Oculus Rift first launched as a Kickstarter project in 2012, promising to “take 3D gaming to the next level”. The project surpassed its target in less than 24 hours, and by the end of the campaign had received almost $2.5 million from 9,522 backers.

Since then, four different versions of the headset have been revealed to the public. The most recent version, known as Crescent Bay, features a greater resolution than the previous version, a lower weight, built-in audio, and 360-degree tracking thanks to the presence of tracking LEDs in the back of the headset.

During a panel at SXSW 2015, Oculus VP of product Nate Mitchell also revealed that the Crescent Bay prototype uses two screens instead of one as previously thought.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg, whose company bought Oculus VR for $2 billion (£1.2bn) in March 2014, said that one day virtual reality will become a part of daily life for billions of people.

“Imagine enjoying a court side seat at a game, studying in a classroom of students and teachers all over the world or consulting with a doctor face-to-face – just by putting on goggles in your home,” he said.

“Virtual reality was once the dream of science fiction. But the internet was also once a dream, and so were computers and smartphones.”